Torah in the Observatory : : Gersonides, Maimonides, Song of Songs / / Menachem Kellner.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Academic Studies Press Backlist eBook-Package 2008-2013
• VerfasserIn: Kellner, Menachem,
• Place / Publishing House: Boston, MA : : Academic Studies Press, , [2010]; ©2010
• Year of Publication: 2010
• Language: English
• Series: Emunot: Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (376 p.)

Rabbi Levi ben Gershom (Ralbag, Gersonides; 1288-1344), one of medieval Judaism's most original thinkers, wrote about such diverse subjects as astronomy, mathematics, Bible commentary, philosophical theology, "technical" philosophy, logic, Halakhah, and even satire. In his view, however, all these subjects were united as part of the Torah. Influenced profoundly by Maimonides, Gersonides nevertheless exercised greater rigor than Maimonides in interpreting the Torah in light of contemporary science, was more conservative in his understanding of the nature of the Torah's commandments, and was more optimistic about the possibility of wide-spread philosophical enlightenment. Gersonides was a witness to several crucial historical events, such as the expulsion of French Jewry of 1306 and the "Babylonian Captivity" of the Papacy. Collaborating with prelates in his studies of astronomy and mathematics, he had an entree into the Papal court at Avignon. Kellner portrays Gersonides, revered among Jews as the author of a classic commentary on the latter books of the Bible, as a true renaissance man, whose view of Torah is vastly wider and more open than that held by many of those who treasure his memory.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- TABLE OF CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- CHAPTER ONE. Providence and the Rabbinic Tradition -- CHAPTER TWO. Mosaic Prophecy: Maimonides and Gersonides -- CHAPTER THREE. Eschatology and Miracles -- CHAPTER FOUR. Creation, Miracles, Revelation -- CHAPTER FIVE. Song of Songs and Gersonides’ World -- CHAPTER SIX. Maimonides and Gersonides on Astronomy and Metaphysics -- CHAPTER SEVEN. Gersonides on the Song of Songs and the Nature of Science -- CHAPTER EIGHT. Politics and Perfection: Gersonides vs. Maimonides -- CHAPTER NINE. The Role of the Active Intellect in Human Cognition -- CHAPTER TEN. Imitatio Dei and the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge -- CHAPTER ELEVEN. Moses ibn Tibbon and Gersonides on Song of Songs -- CHAPTER TWELVE. Misogyny: Gersonides vs. Maimonides -- CHAPTER THIRTEEN. Gersonides and his Cultured Despisers: Arama and Abravanel -- AFTERWORD – PERSONAL REFLECTIONS -- WORKS CITED -- INDEX